Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Okkiliyan

by Edgar Thurston

Okkiliyan.— Okkiliyan is the Tamil synonym for Vakkaliga, the large caste of Canarese cultivators, and the name is derived from okkalu, meaning cultivation or agriculture. In the Madras Census Report, 1901, the Vakkaligas or Okkiliyans are described as "Canarese cultivators, who originally belonged to Mysore, and are found mainly in Madura and Coimbatore. The caste is split up into several sub-divisions, the names of two of which, Nonaba and Gangadikāra, are derived from former divisions of the Mysore country. Each of these is again split up into totemistic exogamous sections or kūlas, some of which are Chinnada (gold), Belli (silver), Khajjāya (cake), Yemme (buffalo), Alagi (pot), Jōla (chōlum: a millet)." The Vakkaligas say they are descendants of the Ballāl Rājah of Ānēgundi, and that they left their homes in pursuit of more suitable occupation, and settled themselves in Konganād (Coimbatore). The Okkiliyans, whom I have investigated, were settled in the Tamil country in the Coimbatore district, where they were engaged as cultivators, bakers, milk-vendors, bricklayers, merchants, cart-drivers, tailors, cigar manufacturers, and coolies. They returned the following eight endogamous sub-divisions: —

(1) Gangadikāra, or those who lived on the banks of the Ganges.

(2) Gudi, temple.

(3) Kīrē (Amarantus), which is largerly cultivated by them.

(4) Kunchu, a tassel or bunch.

(5) Kāmāti, foolish. Said to have abandoned their original occupation of cultivating the land, and adopted the profession of bricklayer.

(6) Gauri, Siva's consort.

(7) Bai.

(8) Sānu.

Like other Canarese castes, the Okkiliyans have exogamous septs (kūttam or kūtta), such as Belli (silver), Kastūri (musk), Pattēgāra (headman), Aruva, Hattianna, etc. By religion they are both Saivites and Vaishnavites. Those of the Aruva sept are all Saivites, and the Hatti sept are Vaishnavites. Intermarriage between Saivites and Vaishnavites is permitted, even though the former be Lingāyats. The Okkiliyans also worship village deities, and sacrifice goats and fowls to Māgāliamma and Koniamma.

The Kiraikkārans of Coimbatore, whose main occupation is cultivating kirai (Amarantus) and other vegetables, are said to be Kempati Okkiliyans, i.e., Okkiliyans who emigrated from Kempampatti in Mysore.

The hereditary headman of the caste, at Coimbatore, is called Pattakāran, who has under him a Chinna (little) Pattakaran. The headman presides over the caste council meetings, settles disputes, and inflicts fines and other forms of punishment. If a person is accused of using coarse language, he is slapped on the cheek by the Chinna Pattakāran. If, during a quarrel, one person beats the other with shoes, he has to purify himself and his house, and feed some of his fellow castemen. The man who has been slippered also has to undergo purificatory ceremony, but has not to stand a feast. In cases of adultery, the guilty persons have to carry a basket of sand on the head round the quarters of the community, accompanied by the Chinna Pattakāran, who beats them with a tamarind switch. In some places, I am informed, there is a headman for the village, called Ūru Goundan, who is subject to the authority of the Nāttu Goundan. Several nādus, each composed of a number of villages, are subject to a Pattakar, who is assisted by a Bāndari. All these offices are hereditary.

When a Gangadikāra girl reaches puberty, her maternal uncle, or his son, constructs a hut of stems of cocoanut leaves, reeds and branches of Pongamia glabra. Every day her relations bring her a cloth, fruits, and flowers. On alternate days she is bathed, and dressed in a cloth supplied by the washerwoman. The hut is broken up, and a new one constructed on the third, fifth, and seventh days. During the marriage ceremony, the

VAKKALIGA BRIDE.

bridegroom carries a dagger (katar) with a lime stuck on its tip, and partly covered with a cloth, when he proceeds to the bride's house with a bamboo, new clothes, the tāli (marriage badge), jewels, wrist-thread (kankanam), fruits, cocoanuts, rice, and a new mat, camphor, etc. He must have the dagger with him till the wrist-threads are untied. The barber cuts the nails of the bridegroom. The Pattakāran, or a Brāhman priest, takes round the tāli to be blessed by those assembled, and gives it to the bridegroom, who ties it on the bride's neck. The ends of the cloths of the contracting couple, with betel leaves and areca nuts in them, are tied together, and they link together the little finger of their right hands. They then look at the sky, to see the polestar, Arundati, who was the wife of the ascetic Vasishta, and the emblem of chastity. The marriage booth has four posts, and the milk-post is made of the milk hedge (Euphorbia Tirucalli), to which are tied mango leaves and a wrist-thread. At some Okkiliyan marriages, the caste priest, called Kanigāra (soothsayer), officiates at the tāli-tying ceremony. Very great importance is attached to the linking of the fingers of the bridal couple by the Kanigāra or maternal uncle. The dowry is not given at the time of marriage, but only after the birth of a child. For her first confinement, the woman is taken to her parents' home, and, after delivery, is sent back to her husband with the dowry. This is not given before the birth of a child, as, in the event of failure of issue or death of his wife, the husband might claim the property, which might pass to a new family.

Among some Okkiliyans the custom is maintained by which the father of a young boy married to a grown-up girl cohabits with his daughter-in-law until her husband has reached maturity. A dead person, I was informed at Coimbatore, is buried in a sitting posture, or, if young and unmarried, in a recumbent position. As the funeral procession proceeds on its way to the burial-ground, the relations and friends throw coins, fruits, cakes, cooked rice, etc.,on the road, to be picked up by poor people. If the funeral is in high life, they may even throw flowers made of gold or silver, but not images, as some of the higher classes do. At the south end of the grave, a hollow is scooped out for the head and back to rest in. A small quantity of salt is placed on the abdomen, and the grave is filled in. Leaves of the arka plant (Calotropis gigantea), or tangēdu (Cassia auriculata), are placed in three corners, and a stone is set up over the head. The son, having gone round the grave with a pot of water and a fire-brand, breaks the pot on the stone before he retires. The widow of the deceased breaks her bangles, and throws them on the grave. The son and other mourners bathe, and return home, where they worship a lighted lamp. On the third day, dried twigs of several species of Ficus and jāk tree (Artocarpus integrifolia), milk, a new cloth, plantains, tender cocoanuts, cheroots, raw rice, betel, etc., required for worship, are taken to the grave. The twigs are burnt, and reduced to ashes, with which, mixed with water, the figure of a human being is made. It is covered with a new cloth, and flowers are thrown on it. Pūja is done to plantains, cocoanut, etc., placed on a plantain leaf, and milk is poured over the figure by relations and friends. The widow breaks her tāli string, and throws it on the figure. The son, and the four bearers who carried the corpse to the grave, are shaved. Each of the bearers is made to stand up, holding a pestle. The barber touches their shoulders with holy grass dipped in gingelly (Sesamum) oil. Raw rice, and other eatables, are sent to the houses of the bearers by the son of the deceased. At night the cloths, turban, and other personal effects of the dead man are worshipped. Pollution is removed on the eleventh day by a Brāhman sprinkling holy water, and the caste people are fed. They perform srādh. By some Okkiliyans, the corpse is, like that of a Lingāyat Badaga, etc., carried to the burial-ground in a structure called tēru kattu, made of a bamboo framework surmounted by a canopy, whereon are placed five brass vessels (kalasam). The structure is decorated with cloths, flags, and plantain trees.

The Morasu Vakkaligas, who sacrifice their fingers, are dealt with separately (see Morasu).